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About

"Hi!! I am Chinmoy. Tune in to hear me talk about all and sundry with a touch of humour seriousness and masala."

Wow Blogs !!

Demystifying IIT

The last four and a half years of my life have been spent
institutionalized in a rather famous 340 acres land in the heart of
new Delhi, and to say it's been a phenomenal ride would be an
understatement. It's not hard to distinctly remember and identify with
the enigma of IITs for high school students in India, because the race
to get in is an incredibly high pressure game. So when the author of
this blog asked me about life at IIT, I hesitated for a minute, for
all I can provide in even the most thoughtfully carved answer to that
question would be a subjective view, but then I thought, maybe that
itself can suffice to provide a window into this weird, crazy world to
people like him and maybe that could turn some of your curiosity into
motivation. All the IITs are different in their "culture" but the
basics remain the same, and I could say with some confidence about
Delhi that it's a fair mix of ALL kinds of people, a little biased
towards high IQ and disciplined childhood stories, but basically, it
has everything the "real" world is made of.
Except...err...the sex ratio.

Let me start with trying to provide some semi-objective answers to
frequently asked questions. Do people in IIT study all the time? No, a
very few study a LOT n some do not study at all, everyone else lies
somehere in between, but most people are experts at studying (and
acing) courses from scratch to end the night before the exam (and
exams happen all the time). Our semesters are about 4.5 month long
with 14x5 days of classes, with two minors (=mid-terms, a month's
syllabus, usually something like 6 courses over 4 days) and one major
at the end(six courses, full syllabus, six days, or smthng like that).

Is getting through JEE the toughest thing for an IITian? No. In fact,
if you ask most people who have graduated from IITs, it is probably
one of the easiest things. Living here and learning what the
apparently "tough" system here is actually designed to teach (and not
wat it sometimes inadvertently teaches) is what makes you a fine
indiviual, a well-rounded and successful IITian. And that is a tough
thing. That means not only being sincere, quick learner, adaptable and
academically smart, that also includes learning to cope with high
pressure, managing time smartly enough to do practically everything
you want and doing it well, developing hidden talents and hobbies in
you, and people skills. Do people in IIT have fun? ALL the time. You
have freedom, and responsibility. Delhi is especially blessed with an
awesome location and not just because girls' colleges of DU and NIFT
are so near. There are LOADS of extra curricular activities and sports
to take up all your free time, and sometimes you'd be pushed to
participate in them because that hostel trophy is worth a lot of
bloodshed in here. There's also ample scope to lose track given the
independence and a certain percentage fall into the alcohol-low
grades-AOE on LAN temptation too. Everything's fine, and fun, unless
you forget to keep it in moderation.

Okay, this has started sounding like a lecture. Let me tell you some
other stuff. IITD has 11 hostels, 2 for girls among them. That should
give you some idea about the skewed ratio, but it's actually better
than most other IIT campuses :) And the girls aren't so bad as
"feared", most of them are actually a relief from 'outside' girls
because you have a saner conversation and they understand u better and
have less tantrums. That said, I'm not privy to all the boys-hostel
views on this, but have heard all kinds of things. :) Hostel life is
the most incredible thing that can ever happen to you. It is the place
where you make friends and learn lessons for life. There is no ragging
anymore, which if you ask me, is a slightly sad thing, but don't ask
me why- that's a very long story! Most activites, and there are many
of them, are student managed with faculty guidance at the top, so
students work in teams all the time to organize inter hostel
competitions, student welfare workshops, to take out campus magazines,
to organize the technical, sports, literary as well as Rendezvous -
the incredibly fun huge cultural festival. You work in teams, sometime
as large as 3-400 people, and do incredible stuff. Rendezvous is an
amazing time, the biggest cult festival in India after MOOD Indigo
(IIT-B) and especially great because all the hot crowd from Delhi
pours in here then. In addition, there are cool things like Robotics,
photogrpahy, adventure trips, car-design to do if you like them. The
professors are mostly smart, though sometimes very boring, and often
just old and cynical. Studies can be a pain if you're not regular, but
there's no real need to slog. People around are really nice and
friendly, smart, warm and easy to relate with.

Okay, I hope you got some idea. If you have questions or views, shoot
an email (apublicdiary@gmail.com) to me.


( P.S.: My reader's I present you my first guest writer -Taru Kapoor a.k.a Phoenix, author of "Public Diary" , who writes on her life in IIT- DELHI)








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  • Blogger Free Bird says so:
    January 22, 2009 at 11:17 PM  

    First I thank Taru didi for sharing her words with because like she says 'words' are all that she has.
    Taru didi it was very inspiring and I am sure it will be so for my fellow rats too.

    Fellow Rats,

    We are always at awe of the IIT's and IIT itself is a brand that can't be matched. So lets see which one(s) of us reach the end of this Rat Race. Best of Luck.
    From Another
    Fellow Rat,
    Chinmoy top

  • Blogger Unknown says so:
    January 23, 2009 at 12:52 PM  

    ....dat's sum stuff dat let's us know 'bout da inside of India's largest brand IIT...so da guys about 2 hit it...u'll hav a gr8 lyf!!! top

  • Blogger Ashish Gourav says so:
    February 8, 2009 at 11:25 PM  

    great work by Taru...
    being an IITian myself I should say it's quite descriptive and critical
    nice one :) top